San Luis Obispo, CA
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, San Luis Obispo ranks 36th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 23rd for income. A household earns $100,724 a year while median rent runs $2,110/mo, making it comfortably affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 9% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is household income (23rd of 300), while home prices is the soft spot (292nd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 292nd and home prices 292nd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in San Luis Obispo, your take-home is worth about $53,682 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 23rd of 300↑30.4%$100,724
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 285th of 300109 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $92,751
- Per-capita income
- $50,484
- Full-time pay
- $44,310
Housing
- Median rent
- 292nd of 300↑27.6%$2,110/mo
- Home value
- 292nd of 300↑38.7%$883,700
- Property tax
- $5,852/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 8.80%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 216th of 3005.1%
- Bachelor's+
- 74th of 30040.2%
- Avg commute
- 164th of 30024.5 min
People
- Population
- 281,843
- Population change
- -0.4%
- Median age
- 41.2 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 10%
- Broadband
- 94.9%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 185th of 30049
- Natural-hazard loss
- 253rd of 300$24/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 139th of 30018.2%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Education
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Job market
- – Hazard safety
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — san luis obispo mcchesney fld.
What jobs pay in San Luis Obispo
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $345,310
- Lawyers
- $175,780
- Pharmacists
- $172,860
- IT managers
- $167,910
- Financial managers
- $140,670
- Registered nurses
- $138,820
- Software developers
- $135,020
- Civil engineers
- $110,210
- Police officers
- $101,860
- General & operations managers
- $101,840
- Secondary school teachers
- $99,560
- Elementary school teachers
- $97,620
- Accountants & auditors
- $88,160
- Carpenters
- $77,220
- Electricians
- $76,540
- Plumbers
- $63,090
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $60,380
- Construction laborers
- $60,140
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $49,400
- Customer service reps
- $46,740
- Janitors
- $42,990
- Web developers
- $42,530
- Retail salespersons
- $37,780
- Cashiers
- $36,550
- Waiters & waitresses
- $34,950
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the San Luis Obispo metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in California are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Arizona559
- Colorado552
- Washington525
- South Carolina356
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like San Luis Obispo
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
San Luis Obispo metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the San Luis Obispo metro?
- Median gross rent across the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA Metro Area is $2,110 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of San Luis Obispo.
- What is the median household income in the San Luis Obispo metro?
- A typical household in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA Metro Area earns $100,724 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is San Luis Obispo expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA Metro Area runs about 9% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the San Luis Obispo metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $92,751 (versus its face value of $100,724). CityLedger rates the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA Metro Area comfortably affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the San Luis Obispo metro?
- The median home value across the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA Metro Area is $883,700 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the San Luis Obispo metro?
- The unemployment rate in the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA Metro Area is 5.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).